Saturday, September 24, 2016

Listen

I generally react only in my head to Facebook posts because
engaging in an argument on Facebook seems to be the least fruitful way to spend
my time. I don’t even know why I’m writing this now. I guess it’s because I
write in order to express myself and the current race relations in America have
been clouding my mind for several days now.

There are people that I love on both sides of the debate
that are angry. In fact, the whole country seems to be scared and angry and
forgive me, but that doesn’t seem right to me.

It occurs to me that the issue is a fundamental disconnect
between what certain people believe to be “the problem.” If you don’t believe
that racism is inherently engrained into “the system,” then of course, it
doesn’t make sense to you why black people are so angry.

So many of us live in a bubble. “Well, I’m not racist so I
guess I don’t understand what this is all about.” Here’s the thing, I don’t
even think that every white cop who has discharged a weapon on a black person
is what we think of as a racist.

In general, we consider racists to be those whacky uncles
that live in the boondocks that we only see once or twice a year. Sure, they throw
around the “n” word, but they’re harmless, right? They don’t play a role in
modern day society. That’s not true. Violent bigotry still exists in the voting
booth. Until it doesn’t, it’s a problem.

Systemic racism is a little different than flat out racism.
Systemic racism is that thing we don’t really think about. It’s what may make
us clutch our wallet when we walk near a black person in the mall or lock the
doors when we are driving in the west end. Systemic racism is when we see an
image of black folks after Katrina running with groceries and we call it
looting but see the same image of white folks doing it and say they were taking
it for survival.

Systemic racism happens when we are taught certain
neighborhoods are bad. This is also why the media uncovers every bad thing they
can find on people being shot by police when they are killed but when a cop is
killed, they talk about them being a good husband and loving father. This is
why when you see a black person getting shot by police, the knee jerk reaction
is to be like, “why didn’t they just do what they were supposed to.”I’ve thought it too. In my head I’ve
screamed, “PLEASE JUST DO WHAT THEY SAY.”

Here’s a fact. This country has a foundation and part of
that foundation is that every American citizen has a right to a fair trial.
Now, back in the day, black people weren’t considered citizens. Since the law
made it clear that they are citizens A LONG TIME AGO, things have progressed in
some ways but black people have been fighting a long time to get what the
constitution promises: a FAIR trial.

So, let’s for a moment assume that every black person
approached by the police had a reason to be followed. Let’s assume that they
had drugs in their pocket, a gun on their hip (which is legal in a lot of
places) and let’s even assume they said something they shouldn’t have to the
cop. Is it annoying that they aren’t following the rules? Yes. Does it mean
they don’t deserve a fair trial? No. The truth is, they were also somebody’s
family and now they are dead and they can’t get the rights afforded to them by
the constitution…which is inherently, un-American.

Are black people the only ones mistreated by police? No, so
let’s have more checks and balances. I believe that a majority of cops are
doing their best to serve and protect their community. It also seems to me they
would want trust from the community so how do we do that?

Well, I for one, don’t get the feeling that any of us are
really listening to each other. We live in the greatest country in the world
and with that comes a level of arrogance. We are automatically defensive over
what is “ours.” Don’t you talk about MY country that way! If we think about it
though, we all have issues in some capacity about the way the country is run.

Do you think Hillary is a crook? I know many of you do. I’ve
even seen some of you compare Obama to ISIS. Should I call you out and say that
you aren’t patriotic? You called our president a terrorist. When people
condemned Bush, it was an all out slug fest to claim those people aren’t real
Americans.

The point is, America is so much to so many. We can disagree
with the way it’s run and still think it’s great. I get so confused by the
“Make America Great Again” statement because people are also very defensive
about it. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said, “If you don’t like
this country, leave” in the past few days. So, is it a country that needs to be
great again or a country that is already great and threatened by people wanting
to change it?

I feel as lost as many of you do. I get it. I am torn on
many levels. I have a wide range of students this year. Some are students at
Shelton’s Fredd campus who have been afforded very few privileges in life. They
don’t know many basic things that a lot of us take for granted. One student
even asked me if I thought he was dumb.

Then, I have some (not all) students at UA who are
privileged (not that they should be punished for that) and one of them, out of
all the argumentative papers he could have chosen, decided to write his paper
as an advocacy of hate speech. In his mind, his version of someone taking his
freedom is to not have the ability to use racial and homophobic slurs. I found
this mind blowing.

Sure, you have a right to use hate speech and nobody should
be able to take that away. If I can admit to that than can we all take a moment
and admit that in this country, we have a problem and it’s a problem that isn’t
going anywhere. Can we unite and at least agree to hear each other out?

There’s always someone to hate. As a country, people have
united against members of the LBGTQ community, the Muslim community and anyone
else looking to be treated like a normal member of society.

So many people that are so angry are people who have
preached the gospel, shared Bible verses and treated others with kindness. Then
they turn around and say some of the most hateful things. I don’t feel the
love.

In the same sense, I also don’t appreciate being told what
to do. I have seen a lot of people I agree with say that silence is just as bad
as racism. I hear you but I don’t necessarily agree. In our day to day lives,
we are all trying to just make it through. I have a unique opportunity with
young people to listen and engage and perhaps even change some minds. I am
doing much more to try and make change in my job than I would do by posting
daily articles on Facebook. I’m fine with people who do that…that’s how you
speak out but it’s not for me. I guess I just believe that building
relationships of trust and dialogue is the most important thing you can do.

Everyone can protest or speak out in their own way. As for
me, the American Flag symbolizes soldiers who have died for our country.
Therefore, I wouldn’t sit during the national anthem but I also don’t think
someone that does should leave the country or is any less American.

Many athletes and rappers that you all follow and worship,
grew up in underprivileged communities. They’ve seen some of these things first
hand. Who am I to step out of my bubble and tell them what to believe? These
athletes and musicians are so important because they are beacons of social
change. The kids that are from the neighborhoods they are from look up to them,
listen to their lyrics so what they say and do DOES matter.

I know this is long and if you’ve made it this far, I
appreciate you listening. I don’t know everything. I do know that I care if
there are people who are uncomfortable in their own country. I’m a woman and
though I’ve never known what it’s like to be a black person, I have seen wage
discrimination first hand, I have had a man grab me inappropriately because he
can and I have felt that my opinion isn’t important. I know how that makes me
feel and I know the people I love wouldn’t want me to feel that way.

I know that I am proud of many things about this country.
I’m proud of the countless men and women in the armed services and police force
that do what they can to protect us. I know that there are problems though and
I don’t know all the answers but I do know that unless we engage in dialogue
and actually listen to each other, nothing will ever change.

Down 75!

Down 60!

Down 50!

Down 45!

Down 35!

Down 25!

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Down Progression

About Me

I am what my Dad calls a healthy girl who is trying to be less...healthy? None of it makes sense but I am going to attempt to hash it all out here. I love my dog, my family and my friends. Seems silly to tell you much about myself since I will be telling you that sort of thing quite often.